Sports Burst - Game On In LaLiga
LaLiga begins a 13-day sprint to decide the title as Barcelona are first up today in the three-way fight for the title
By Tim Stannard
Ronald Koeman admits to feeling the pressure of the title race as Barcelona take on Levante today
Forget the previous 35 rounds of action in LaLiga. Those were run just to get us into the current place of existential tingles and thrills in the greatest title race of them all.
Over the next 13 days, one of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid or Barcelona will win LaLiga. All three teams are divided by just two points and have three games to go. All three teams have been shedding points like a long-haired cat in the summer and all three teams are vulnerable to shedding even more.
Unlike Real Madrid last season, who strung together ten wins in a row to win LaLiga, neither of the three clubs in question have been able to win two games in a row for the past three rounds of action.
The official finale starts today with Barcelona first up on the mat with an away match at Levante on beIN SPORTS at 3:50PM ET / 12:50PM ET. Going in Barca's favor in the game is that Levante are the team with the worst form in LaLiga with just a single point from the past six matches. A couple of strikes in the 'oh dear' column, though, are the fact that Barca have lost their past two visits and Levante have one of the most remarkably brilliant players outside of the top-three in shape of Jose Luis Morales.
Ronald Koeman is definitely feeling the tension, admitting that he could only watch the first 20 minutes of Real Madrid's match against Sevilla on Sunday, before tuning into to catch Juventus implode against Milan in Serie A.
That's the kind of fan fury backlash that awaits the Dutch coach today if matters go pear-shaped in the city of Valencia. If Barcelona win, the team goes to the top of the standings, at least until Atletico play Real Sociedad on Wednesday, or Real Madrid face Granada the day after that. Anything else...and it's Barca crisis all the way.
Besiktas have chance to clinch Super Lig title
While LaLiga is set to go down to the final weekend, the Turkish Super Lig could be wrapped up today on the penultimate round of action.
Besiktas are the current front runners at the top of the table, having been powered this season by the Canadian pair of Cyle Larin up front and Atiba Hutchinson in midfield. However, the traditional rivals of Fenerbahce (two points behind) and Galatasaray (three points) are still in the hunt - just - and all three teams play at the same time today live on beIN SPORTS from 1:20PM ET / 10:20AM PT.
The Super Lig 101 is that if Besiktas beat Fatih Karagumruk and both Fenerbahce and Galatasaray fail to win their respective games, then it's all over and the Black Eagles are champions. Anything else and it goes down to the final match on Saturday.
Santos look to restore pride against Boca Juniors
beIN SPORTS really is spoiling y'all today. First up, it's Turkey drama, then Barca drama...and that's just the beginning as straight after all that, matchday four of the Copa Libertadores gets underway with a mighty battle between two of the continent's biggest names.
Santos are taking on Boca Juniors with the Brazilian side having been in all sorts of trouble of late having lost their coach and star player. Last year's finalists did bounce back at least in the last round but still only have one win and two defeats from the competition so far. Boca are one place above Santos in the standings but facing quite the battle in Brazil today from 6:05PM ET / 3:05PM PT. That match is followed directly by the scoring genius of Gabigol and Flamengo at Union La Calera.
You can catch all six of today's Copa Liberadores matches across the beIN SPORTS network.